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Introducing IBM Redbooks Point-of-View publications: The new “red” on the block!

I started with IBM in 1989. I still remember my first assignment.
My manager called me and said “Next week a group of interns will be coming to
IBM and I want you to present AS/400 networking capabilities to this group. By
the way, if you need any resources, check out the AS/400 Redbooks in the IBM
Library.” I had never heard of IBM Redbooks publications before, but that was
not surprising because I was just starting my IT career. I went to the library
(yes, we had a library in our office those days) and, on one of the shelves, saw
these books that had the red covers. They were conveniently called “Redbooks.” I
picked the one written for AS/400 and skimmed through the pages. I remember
thinking to myself “These books are a great resource for product positioning,
installation, and implementation experiences.” Of course little did I know that I would be authoring
some — actually a lot — of these later in my career.

Fast forward 10 years. When I learned about a job opening in
ITSO, it did not take long for me to decide about applying for the job. After a
couple of interviews, I found myself managing my first Redbooks project. Those days,
Redbooks and IBM Redpapers publications were the only deliverables ITSO
produced, and these books were (and still are!) a great reference for
implementers.

Fast forward another 13 years to the present day. I am still
a Project Leader in ITSO, but ITSO now has many more deliverables in addition to
our flagship Redbooks publications, such as:

These additions are all deliverables from the Redbooks brand;
I’ve witnessed the transformation of Redbooks as a deliverable to Redbooks as a
brand. I even contributed to creation of the last two deliverables.

The reason for this transformation is to respond to the
evolving needs of our readers and address the end-to-end technical enablement
requirements of a younger IT generation, especially in Growth Market Unit (GMU)
based countries. These deliverables support IBMers and IBM Business Partners
with pre-sales roles, and also IT Managers where as Redbook publications are
more geared toward IT Delivery teams and implementers.

Another interesting fact about these deliverables is that
most can be developed in an integrated development cycle, within the boundaries
of a Redbooks project. For example, a residency team that is creating a
Redbooks publication can also create videos, write blog posts, create a Solution
Guide, or even throw in workshop material, based on the Redbooks. ITSO now has all
the processes in place for all of these deliverables, and many examples of
these have already been created.

Now we have another kid (or should I say “red”) on the block: Point-of-View publications (POVs) — brief, strategy-oriented documents that
represent an author's perspective on a particular technical topic. Written by
senior IBM subject matter experts, these publications examine current industry
trends, directions, and emerging technologies.They further outline how readers can address business challenges with
specific approaches, and explain the business value that a company or
organization might gain by choosing the highlighted solution.

At
about five pages in length, Point-of-View publications typically include solution highlights, a description of
the problems being addressed, proposed solutions, and references for additional
reading.They are available as PDFs for
download.See the example below:

Join me in welcoming this new "red deliverable” from ITSO
and stay tuned for more POVs in the near future. I am interested in your thoughts. Let me know what you think
of this new deliverable type and what topics would you like to see in the upcoming POVs. Enjoy our POVs!